Assembly Speaker blocks Seagate question

900 jobs will go from the Seagate operation in Limavady

EAST DERRY Sinn Féin MLA Francie Brolly said on Monday that it was a disgrace that, a week after the announcement that 900 jobs will go from the Seagate operation in Limavady, there had been no ministerial statement from Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Nigel Dodds and a refusal by Assembly Speaker William Hay (DUP) to allow a Priority Question on the issue.
“The announcement of 900 job losses at the Seagate Factory in Limavady has sent a shock-wave not just through the local area but across the north-west,” Francie Brolly said.
“These job losses also expose some of the fundamental problems with our current approach to job creation. It highlights the reality of globalisation. Our current strategy is over-dependent on foreign direct investment as opposed to increasing the skills base of the workforce and growing indigenous businesses.
Brolly has said that a number of people working at the Limavady factory but employed through agencies and not Seagate had contacted his office.
“It has now emerged that many people working at the Seagate factory in Limavady, including some who have been there for a number of years, are employed through employment agencies and as a result are not eligible for any redundancy.”
The Sinn Féin MLA added:
“It is totally frustrating that the Speaker’s Office has refused to allow a Priority Question on this issue. The Assembly is there to hold ministers to account and to ensure that issues of pressing public concern are properly and promptly addressed.”